Shades of Green
by LoLoGreeneVines
Summary: Guilmon and Jeri have a conversation about colours, and the difference between friendship and more-than-friendship.


**Author's notes: Just a short thing I wrote when I couldn't sleep. (It's too warm. Winter please.) Anyway, it occurred to me that I've written more than 250,000 words on this site and none of them have been Jurato (one of my top three OTPs) so I decided to remedy that.**

 **This was fun because it required me to write with Guilmon's particular brand of child-like innocence, which was a good challenge. I hope you enjoy it! :)**

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Guilmon couldn't refrain from giggling as Takato's schoolmates filed out of the building, each one of them eager to go home. He listened carefully to the footfalls of hundreds of passing students, although he was unable to count the exact number because he couldn't actually see them. The simple reason for this was because he had decided that the best way to camouflage himself would be to stand by the door, lifting his arm to cover his eyes. After all, if you can't see them, they can't see you. Right?

"Hey, did you see that?"

"It looks like one of those Digimon things!"

They could see a Digimon? Well, on the grounds that it couldn't possibly be him they were talking about, Guilmon reasoned that Calumon must be bouncing by on his usual circuit of the city in pursuit of fun, or perhaps Impmon was on the prowl. He nearly lowered his arm to wave to whichever of his friends was nearby, but refrained when he remembered that doing so would compromise his disguise.

It didn't even occur to Guilmon that he had another arm.

"Guilmon?"

Guilmon jumped, exhaling so forcefully he could feel the sparks shooting out of his snout. Carefully lowering his arm, he was greeted by the sight of Jeri, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Jeri!" he exclaimed, the joy of seeing his friend causing the little dragon to remain utterly oblivious to the strange looks he was receiving from all of the other students. "I'm so happy to see you!"

She smiled. "Hello, Guilmon. Does Takato know you're here?"

Suddenly remembering his reason for being stealthy, Guilmon peered around anxiously. "No. I wanted to talk to somebody, so I escaped from my house."

"Oh." Jeri brushed her fringe out of her eyes with a finger. "Why couldn't you talk to Takato?"

Guilmon sighed, emitting a small cloud of steam and causing a nearby group of congregating school children to run away in terror. "I tried, but instead of answering my question he said he had to iron his shoes and ran away. I don't know why, because his shoes weren't wrinkled at all."

Jeri gave a giggle. "It must have been a tough question."

"I wanted to ask him for a while. It bothered me like when a fly flies right in front of your face but just high enough that you can't reach it."

Jeri smiled indulgently, taking his clawed hand and leading him around a corner, away from her gawking classmates. "Well, our teacher asked to speak to Takato, so he'll be a few minutes. Would I be able to answer your question?"

Guilmon pondered this for a moment. He liked Jeri a lot, and he trusted her to be honest. Also, she was good friends with Takato, so she would definitely understand exactly what he had meant. Yes, there was nobody better to ask than Jeri.

"What does it mean to like someone as 'more than a friend'?"

Her eyebrows briefly raised, before she smiled brightly. "Oh? Do you have a crush, Guilmon?"

"I accidentally sat on a bread roll earlier."

"You misunderstand me. Like, a _crush_ ," Jeri explained, patiently. "Like, liking somebody."

"I like lots of people," said Guilmon. "I like Takato and Terriermon and you and Calumon and..."

Jeri patted him on the head. "I don't think we're quite on the same page," she said, softly. "You said liking somebody as more than a friend."

Guilmon laughed. "Oh! Yes. I just wanted to know what could be better than friendship. I like having friends!"

"Well, it's difficult to describe. Sometimes when two people are close, they have special feelings for each other they don't have for anybody else. It's not _better_ than friendship, just different."

"Like me and Takato?"

Jeri frowned. "No. It's different," she explained. "You and Takato are tamer and Digimon. That's a friendly relationship. A strong one, but not the same as being more than friends."

This only served to bewilder Guilmon even more. "I don't understand."

She smiled. "That's fine, it is a difficult concept. Where did you even hear the phrase, anyway?"

"From Takato," Guilmon answered promptly.

Jeri started, regarding Guilmon with a surprised look, before her cheeks took on the faintest pink tinge and she gazed at the tarmac by her feet, her expression conspicuously neutral. "When did he say that?"

He scratched his head in thought. "The time on the train with the D-Reaper agent pretending to be you."

She didn't lift her eyes from the ground, but Guilmon detected her skin turning darker with some concern. "Jeri, are you okay? You're going a funny colour, like the metal bar at my house went when I melted it. It glowed really brightly."

"I'm fine."

A quick response. She probably wasn't melting, then. Guilmon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Guilmon?"

Guilmon tilted his head in interest as she finally made eye-contact. "What exactly did Takato say?" Her voice was so quiet he could barely pick it up.

"He said that he liked you more than a friend."

Peace. That was the only word Guilmon could come up with to describe the look on her face at these words.

"Is that so?" Jeri smiled, and she looked so happy that Guilmon nearly felt the need to take her hand again in case she started to float away.

Guilmon blinked. "I'm still confused. Are you confused? Perhaps you should ask Takato what he meant."

"Perhaps I should," she mused. She stared out over the school field for a minute, apparently lost in thought. "Actually, I think I know how to explain it to you."

Guilmon's ears pricked up in interest.

"You see my dress?" she asked, taking the edge of the fabric between her fingers and holding it out, before dropping it, causing the material to ripple outwards around her knees like a leaf landing in a body of water. "It's green. The grass is also green, but it's a brighter, more saturated shade."

"I think I follow," said Guilmon.

"Say Takato's friendship with Kazu or Kenta is the colour of my dress. That would make his friendship with you the colour of the grass. They're both green, but different kinds of green."

This made a lot more sense. Guilmon nodded.

"And if you considered my friendship with Takato, that would make us..."

Suddenly, it clicked. "Pink!" exclaimed Guilmon.

"Pink works." Jeri beamed.

"I like pink."

"Me too," she giggled. "And the best thing is that pink and green are complimentary colours. They go well together!"

Guilmon joined in with her laughter, only realising when they stopped that the school was otherwise silent and that everybody had gone home.

"I need to go before I get in trouble with Takato," said Guilmon, anxiously looking around. "Thank you for explaining."

Jeri wound her arms around his stocky body in a hug. "No, thank _you_ , Guilmon," she said. "Goodbye!"

Guilmon waved. "Bye!" he called, trotting away in the direction of the field and stopping by the edge, where he could see a patch of long, uncut grass, the blades covering long stems, each with a bundle of feathery seeds at the top. He stopped to uproot a fistful, hopeful that this gift symbolising their friendship might make Takato more likely to forgive him for his escape that morning.

He only hoped that Takato understood Jeri's metaphor.


End file.
